How To Be Pregnant and Proud

Pregnancy is a word that conjures up images of beautifully round bellies and sweetly powdered babies. Mothers like Vicki Rhea of Nickerson, Kan., agree. "I loved being pregnant. I think I actually felt at the height of my femininity," Rhea says. But mothers like Shelli Minnaugh of Richmond, Va., couldn't disagree more. "I simply felt pretty ugly and swollen and uncomfortable," she says.

So why the difference? How can some women celebrate their bigger profiles, feeling full of life, while other women crawl out of bed each morning, feeling full of fat?

There are no simple answers, but according to Janis Lewis, a licensed psychologist and assistant professor at Chapman University, there are biological, psychological and socio-cultural influences that affect every pregnant woman.

"There is a cascade of hormonal influences which can shape a positive or negative attitude towards body image in pregnancy," Lewis says. "Early on in pregnancy there is often nausea, a sickly appearance and weight gain that outsiders would not attribute to pregnancy. These can cause some ambivalence in the woman."

Denise Cagle-Becker of Greenwich, Conn., recalls how morning sickness kept her from fully enjoying the first trimester of pregnancy. "But once that was over, I felt stronger and stronger and loved being pregnant," she says.

"If [a woman] is ashamed of her changing body, if her partner or others make hurtful remarks, if she is alarmed by stretch marks, the pregnancy can be difficult," Lewis says. "Add to this if she feels less sexual or if her partner withdraws affection. She may resent her changing body."

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